


Equalizing Measures Taken

by newyorktopaloalto



Category: Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga), Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Curse, Crossover, Eventual Romance, F/M, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 07:18:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newyorktopaloalto/pseuds/newyorktopaloalto
Summary: Tohru Honda, on board Enterprise with a crew of veritable geniuses, had managed to find herself a place with them all—she was content with her job, with her friends, with her life hurtling toward alien planets at warp 5. Then the Xindi attacked, Enterprise was called to Earth's defense, and almost one hundred people willingly let themselves go into the Expanse with no guarantee they would come out.The MACOs were, Tohru believed, a welcome distraction to the pall that covered the crew—no matter that she seemed to be the only person on board to think so.





	Equalizing Measures Taken

**Author's Note:**

> Because [vegalocity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegalocity) said 'you should write a crossover for once in your life' and I was like, 'yes, but how about for two completely unrelated canons?' And thus we have Tohru Honda & co. on Enterprise. 
> 
> For Trek fans: you don't need to know much of anything about Fruits Basket to understand this fic. It might help with how some characters interact with one another, but it's definitely not necessary. (If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up in the comments). This fic takes place near the start of season 3, and is fairly canonical throughout. 
> 
> For Fruits Basket fans: I have explained most Trek things in-text to the extent I felt necessary to world-building and plot, but if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up about it. This is my interpretation of how Fruits Basket characters would be like in the Star Trek universe, so if some things are slightly off-kilter, that's why. (This is not my first Furuba fic, but it _is_ my first in over a decade). 
> 
> For fans of both: you're the true MVPs
> 
> Disclaimer: I own neither Fruits Basket (Natsuki Takaya; US distributor, Tokyopop) nor Star Trek:Enterprise (Paramount), so please don't sue! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

“Have you met any of them?” 

Tohru shook her head, half of her attention on how much food was being consumed by the various officers and crew members that had gotten off of their shifts or were taking a late lunch. Kagura Sohma, one of the xenobiologists on board Enterprise and the sous chef's closest friend on the starship, leaned against the counter with both of her elbows and turned away from Tohru, watching the mess hall with a bored expression. 

“Gamma shift is _boring_. What I wouldn't give to be a senior enough officer to at least get to beta, am I right? None of the cute guys are even here at this time of night.” 

“I like gamma,” Tohru replied, wiping down the counter around Kagura with an ease that came with almost three years of doing much the same every shift, “it's quiet, but some of the most interesting people are wandering about.” 

“Yeah, like who?” 

“Well, like you. And—like Lieutenant Sohma and,” she paused, laughing at herself a little, “Lieutenant Sohma.” 

“Is Akito really having you still call her that?” Kagura asked, her tone disgusted as she whipped her head around to face Tohru, the ensign's eyebrows almost at her hairline as she waited for an answer. 

“No.” She shrugged, blushing a little because of course the science officer wouldn't understand Tohru's really dumb joke. “I just thought it was funny. You know, because their last names are the same.” 

“Mine too.” 

“Yes, but you're related to Akito, right?” 

Kagura shook her head, laughing. “Nope. And I _know_ —it's weird.

“Which,” the ensign paused for dramatic effect, “speaking of weird, did you know that one of the MACOs is named Sohma too?” 

“Is that why you asked if I had met one?” 

“Mm-hmm! But you haven't, so...” She shrugged. “It doesn't matter, does it? Besides, they're a MACO, so I don't know if they should be part of our exclusive club.” 

Tohru laughed a little bit, before trying to stifle it with the back of her hand, ignoring Kagura's sly grin her way. Before she could say anything in reply to her friend or for the benefit of the MACO named Sohma she had yet to meet, the timer indicating that the extra rice she had made was ready for consumption beeped at her from the computer and she hurried back to the kitchen to bring it out for whatever hungry crew happened to desire it. 

“Here you go, fresh from the pot,” she chirped as she walked out with the pot of rice balanced between her hands. “Sorry about the wait!” 

“I wasn't waiting for that long.” 

The pot of rice almost fell from her grip as the voice that answered her was decidedly not that of her friend, but—when she looked up from setting the pot down on the counter—that of a tall, decidedly male and shockingly ginger, MACO. 

“Oh, I thought you were someone else!”

“I'm sorry.” 

“No, you, ah—I mean, don't be! 

“Hi, it's nice to meet you! I'm Tohru Honda, the sous chef here on Enterprise. You're a MACO.” 

“I am.” 

Tohru nodded, her head bobbing up and down a few more times than she felt normal for an introduction, before offering the MACO another pot that contained the stew that Chef had made for the end of beta shift—a few hours later, and Tohru firmly believed that it was better than it had been before. 

“No thanks, I'm just here for Major Hayes' order.” 

“Ah, yes, I have it right here,” Tohru replied, spinning around to gather the cloche covered tray that contained the Major's order. 

“Kyo, by the way.” 

“I'm sorry?” 

She offered the tray over to the MACO, who grinned, a little cheeky, down at her as he grabbed it in both hands. 

“I'm Kyo Sohma. Nice to meet you too.” 

Nodding and about to let the man go on his way—no point in her bothering him about the fact that she and Kagura had been, however inadvertently, just been speaking about him—she was surprised by the fact that he lingered at the counter. 

“Who were you expecting?” 

“Oh, my friend.” Tohru shrugged easily. “But like she says: 'when it's the middle of an experiment, a lunch break is more guesswork than anything else.' She was probably comm.-ed by Lieutenant Velasquez when I was getting the rice out of the kitchen.” 

Kyo Sohma, the MACO private—by the look of his patch and from what Tohru understood about the ranking classification of Military Assault Command Operations, which she could admit was little to none—nodded his understanding and Tohru smiled a little despite herself. 

“When you have time, you should come back down and get some food; Chef is great, and I'm sure you burn a lot of calories and whatnot, with your job and all.” 

“My lunch is scheduled for an hour—I'll come by.” He paused. “Do you think you'll be on break as well? It's just—I don't know anyone, you know? And I honestly think half of them are looking down at me because I don't have a PhD in theoretical astrophysics or anything.” 

Shrugging, his own annoyance seemed to slough off his shoulders at the motion. “Would you be, uh, amenable to that?” Another pause. “Actually, you know what? Never mind, that was an idiotic thing to ask, I'm sorry.” 

“Don't be sorry, I felt the same way when I was new on here! But technically I'm always on lunch break when I'm on shift.” 

“Yeah, but everyone else's, right?”

It was the truth and Tohru nodded, glancing at the chronometer before deciding to make a rash guarantee to the man she had just met. The private looked as though he regretted everything he had said up until and including the moment they were now in.

“I'll take lunch when you come in,” she affirmed, smiling once more at Private Sohma's still vaguely ill expression—Tohru could understand how she could have taken his blunt words for something untoward, but she also understood another socially anxious soul when she met one. “And don't worry, I hardly passed Starfleet training, so a PhD in theoretical astrophysics was not in any of my fortunes.” 

He gave a little huff of a laugh and gestured at her with the tray. 

“Thank you. Again. I'll um—see you.” 

After a jerky nod and an about-face, Private Sohma left the mess hall, taking with him the last distraction Tohru could conceivably give herself before having to tackle the literal heaping pile of dishes that always seemed to await her in the back kitchen.

* * *

“—and half of the crew just go around like they were getting over the effects of being stunned. I'm lucky, some people on the ship lost their entire families when the Xindi attacked Earth. You can tell who lost people because their eyes are blank—it's like that one twentieth-century movie the crew watched when we were stuck in that nebula two years ago, the one that I hated but actually became the impetus for Akito's and my friendship and I— computer, pause.”

She stopped herself from continuing with her tangential thoughts and shook her head, flopping down on the bottom bunk of the quarters she shared with Crewman Elizabeth Cutler, one of Enterprise's science officers and Doctor Phlox's medical assistant. After a moment of forcing herself to take measured breaths, Tohru finally felt as though she could continue without going on a lark. 

“Computer, delete log entry.” 

A beep confirmed her command was accepted into the system, the audio log now deleted from the ship's computer. 

“Blegh.” 

Burying her face into the pillow, the practically odorless scent of Starfleet-issued detergent still cloying to her sense of smell, Tohru sighed heavily into it before turning her head to issue a 'computer, set alarm for 0945.'

The door to her quarters slid open, and Tohru sat up as Elizabeth strode into the room, her roommate's eyes, as usual, on the data-pad in front of her. 

“How are you adjusting to gamma shift?” Tohru asked—with anyone else, she would have waited to be acknowledged first, in case whatever being read was important, but in the case of her entomologist roommate, if Tohru waited for Elizabeth to say 'hi', she would be waiting for a Tellarite to pay someone a compliment. 

“Dr. Phlox was right,” Elizabeth replied, managing the steps to her upper bunk with both eyes still on whatever she was reading, “it's easier for his more advanced teachings.” 

“That's good!”

“Mm-hmm.” 

It wasn't as though they had problems with each other, or even particularly disliked one another, but Tohru and Elizabeth led very different lives, enjoyed very different things, and their friendships denoted that divide quite uniformly. And so, because their balance of co-habitation would be all the better off for it, Tohru let Elizabeth back to her reading, and she to the newest novel in the long-running, Andorian 'Kitazoanra zh'Mezret' thriller series—despite not understanding most of the political machinations in the novels, the crew of the Enterprise, and definitely Tohru, was happy for the newly-translated entertainment.

* * *

“You had lunch with one of those MACOs.” 

Tohru nodded and took another bite of her salad. The mess was practically empty—alpha shift having had already started and most of beta shift sleeping—but Akito's voice was still low enough that Tohru found herself leaning forward on the table to hear the other woman better. 

A sort of intrigued revulsion obvious in her tone, Akito continued. “What was he _like_?”

“He was nice.” 

“Was he?” 

Laughing, Tohru nodded again. “I can tell he's military and not used to being in space, but...” 

“He's nice?” 

“Yeah.” 

Akito snorted and Tohru could tell the lieutenant was still slightly disgusted with the entire affair. Of course most of Enterprise was fairly disgusted when Captain Archer, upon taking he mission into the Expanse in search of the Xindi weapon that threatened to destroy the rest of Earth, had insisted upon the MACOs presence on the erstwhile scientifically-inclined starship which was NX-01, the necessity of such a security augmentation notwithstanding to the crew. 

“You had lunch with a MACO!”

Kagura thudded her tray down onto the table next to Tohru, the exuberance in her voice amplified by the indignant huff she sat down with. 

“And you didn't tell me immediately!” She shoveled a few spoon-fulls of stew into her mouth, obviously famished after not being able to eat a proper lunch earlier, before continuing. “What was he like?”

“He was nice,” Akito answered, dead-pan and, Tohru was sure, trying not to roll her eyes at the statement. 

“What is 'nice'? Nice can be anything, Tohru, you have to tell me more than that, I need _details_.”

“He's the other Sohma, his name is Kyo and he's a Private. Red hair...” Tohru trailed off. “Nice.” 

“Ooh, the final Sohma!” In a flash, Kagura was off in her 'Ultimate Fighting Sohma Theory: Many Sohmas Enter, Only One Sohma Leaves' plan that she had been pitching for Tohru to moderate since Lieutenant Sohma in Engineering had transferred from Jupiter Station the year previous; Akito, who caught Tohru's eyes by staring, dead-eyed, at her until the gaze bored itself directly into Tohru's mind, grimaced exaggeratedly at what Kagura was saying—Tohru, who felt absolutely terrible at having to stifle a giggle at the expression, tried to give Aktio a stern look to make up for it. 

“What is _she_ going on about?” 

Lieutenant Yuki Sohma took the last spot at the table, blithely ignoring Ensign Manabe from the armory department frantically waving to the lieutenant to sit with him and his cohorts. 

“Lieutenant, Ensign, Ms. Honda.” He nodded at each of them, raising an eyebrow at Kagura, who had stopped mid-sentence to instead stare at the interruption. 

“Ensign, I heard one of the MACOs is named Sohma—is this true?” 

“Oh, so you're just here because I know all the gossip,” Kagura replied, scoffing with an overly zealous flick of her hair. 

“Admittedly, yes.” 

“It's true—Tohru met him.” 

“His name's Kyo,” Tohru added, a 'he seems nice,' coming almost automatically after saying her piece. Akito, who Tohru had thought had tuned out their conversation in favor of tapping away at some report or other, snorted at Tohru's addition. 

“Kyo?” 

Tohru, who had never heard Lieutenant Sohma's voice take on quite that strangled of tone, looked up from her food to where the man was now grimacing. 

“Yes.” 

“Red hair, weird eyes?” 

“Oh!” Tohru, a little surprised at the blunt—but admittedly apt—description, nodded. “You know him?” 

“He's my cousin.” 

“He's your _what_?” Kagura, who somehow managed to make her voice echo in the mess hall—a feat that Tohru thought impossible until that very moment—turned a few heads from surrounding tables, before they realized from who the exclamation came, and turned back to their routine activities. 

“Two of our Sohmas are related?” It was quieter this time, Akito having had grabbed the ensign by the arm in a silent warning. By the expression on Lieutenant Sohma's face, it either wasn't quiet enough, or there was something else about the situation that was bothering him. 

“Kyo Sohma and I are cousins.” A pause. “Unfortunately.

“And he's not nice, Ms. Honda, he's a hothead who I'm surprised managed a posting on the ship at all.” He snorted. “MACO or no.” 

With that, he stood up, nodding at the three women, before wending his way to where Ensign Manabe was waiting for him. 

“Well—” Kagura started after a few moments of silence, the three of them staring at one another in mute bemusement, “I think that's a personal grudge I don't need to know about.” 

“Family issues are always passionate,” Akito said, her nod at Tohru and Kagura an end to her participation in this particular line of conversation. 

“I'm having lunch with him again tomorrow.”

Kagura nodded and grinned, wolfish, at Tohru. “Is he cute?”

“No—I mean, yes, but I don't—” Tohru blushed a little. “Yes, he is. That's not why I'm having lunch with him, though.” 

“Of course not,” Kagura replied, the pat on her shoulder, Tohru was sure, meant to be nothing more than a platitude. 

“It's not, though—he knows what it's like to be on this ship and not be...” she trailed off and shrugged, taking a big gulp of her tea to keep her tongue from running away with her. “We have some things, some experiences, in common.

“I'd like to get to know him better, that's all.” 

Akito, in a bout of rare understanding, stopped Kagura from saying anything in reply to Tohru's half-stated admission. Tohru smiled at the older woman, who quirked her lips up in what passed for a full-fledged grin on anyone other than the engineer. 

“Be careful though, Tohru, the lesser Lieutenant Sohma could be right about the MACO.” 

“Yeah,” Kagura agreed, getting with some sort of program that Tohru felt excluded from, “maybe we should eat with the two of you tomorrow and see for ourselves.” 

“That wasn't at all what I was suggesting,” Akito replied. 

“That's such a great idea, Akito, I can't believe I didn't think of it—we'll make sure he's on the up-and-up, and that Yuki is wrong, sound good?” 

“Ensign, that is an idiotic idea.” 

“Please don't, Kagura.” 

“Okay, so tomorrow for lunch, perfect!” Kagura slurped down the rest of her stew before standing up with her tray. “Good food—pay Chef my compliments. I have to go finish an experiment, I'll see you two tomorrow!” 

“Bye.” Tohru's reply was faint, a little overwhelmed as to the scene that would inevitably occur when Kagura interacted with Private Sohma for the first time—most people, Tohru knew, didn't know what to make of the woman, and Tohru doubted Kyo would be much different in that respect. 

“I'll keep her away.” 

Tohru looked up. Akito, one hand stirring a mug of tea and the other tapping away at the data-pad in front of her, didn't look up as she continued. 

“Kagura's meddlesome—I'll make sure she's not around the mess tomorrow at lunch.” 

“From engineering?” She didn't want to sound skeptical as Akito did manage to get things done that she reasonably should not have been able to, but Tohru couldn't help her slight incredulity at the other woman's confidence. 

“I know people in the science department.” 

“Who?”

Akito scowled. “People. It doesn't matter, Honda—do you want me to help you or not?” 

“Thank you, Akito.” 

“You're welcome. But you owe me.” 

Tohru nodded; the exchange, she felt, would be more than worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> xoxo


End file.
